Pyongyang , North Korea -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The last thing Thomas Hudner said to mortally wounded pilot Jesse Brown was that he would come back for him .

Sixty-three years later , he may just keep that promise .

Hudner , who received the Medal of Honor for trying to pull Brown from his downed plane during the Korean War , will fly to Pyongyang on Saturday and is hoping to return to the area his comrade crashed .

He will travel with a fellow veteran , historians and his biographer to search for any trace of his friend 's remains or the aircraft . CNN is among three news agencies invited for the trip .

On December 4 , 1950 , Hudner , now 88 , was part of a six-plane formation providing air support for U.S. Marines on the ground fighting Chinese troops during the Korean War .

He was wingman to Ensign Jesse Brown , the first African-American aviator in the U.S. Navy .

Korean War : Fast Facts

Both men were in their early 20s but lived a world apart . Hudner was the white son of a successful grocery store owner in Massachusetts , while Brown 's father was a Mississippi sharecropper .

Brown 's F4U Corsair was damaged while flying near the Jangjin Reservoir , known as the Chosin Reservoir by Americans , in the northeast of North Korea . He crash landed on the rough snow-covered terrain .

Hudner refused to leave him .

He crashed his own plane close by with the intention of pulling Brown from the wreckage . But Brown 's legs were trapped and Hudner was unable to free him . When a Marine helicopter landed to stage a rescue , Hudner had to make the agonizing decision to leave Brown .

`` The Marine pilot pulled me aside , '' Hudner told CNN , `` and said dusk was approaching and he could n't fly the helicopter in the dark and the mountainous terrain , so he had to leave . But he said I had the option of going with him or to stay with Jesse , which would have been obvious suicide . ''

Brown had crashed well behind enemy lines . If the Chinese troops did n't claim Hudner , the Korean winter would .

`` I told Jesse that we had to get some more equipment because we could n't get him out with what we had ... I do n't know if he even heard m. I 'm afraid by this time he had passed . ''

The U.S. military decided to drop napalm on the wreckage so that Brown 's body and the aircraft would not fall into enemy hands .

In a rare show of cooperation with a country it often calls the imperialistic enemy , North Korea has given permission for Hudner to return to Chosin Reservoir .

The Korean War broke out in June 1950 when communist North Korea attacked its southern neighbor . United Nations forces , made up primarily of U.S. personnel , fought on the side of South Korea . China fought with North Korea .

Choisin Reservoir was the scene of a harrowing battle waged during the brutal Korean winter , with frostbite a common injury . Arms and medical supplies also froze in subzero temperatures .

Of the 15,000 U.S. troops involved , more than 3,000 died during the 17-day struggle . But the Chinese forces paid a much greater price trying to force the allied troops from their positions -- some 60,000 replacements were required to replace men lost to firepower and cold . An estimated 35,000 Chinese troops lost their lives .

Hudner told CNN he did n't think the trip would ever happen .

`` We 're very grateful to him -LRB- leader Kim Jong Un -RRB- and to the North Korean government that after all these years we 've been given permission to look for Jesse 's airplane , '' he said .

He puts the chances of finding Brown 's remains or his aircraft at 50-50 , but says it is important .

He said severely strained US-North Korean relations could get a boost .

`` Of course , that olive branch has to be extended and accepted by both sides , '' said Hudner . `` There 's an important factor that not many people talk about , but in World War II the Japanese and the Germans were our bitter enemies and now they 're some of our closest friends . ''

An armistice agreement was signed on July 27 , 1953 , but a peace treaty has never been signed , meaning the two Koreas still are technically at war .

The 60th anniversary of the end of the war is just one week away and Pyongyang has planned a military parade and mass celebrations on what it calls `` Victory Day . '' The group is not planning on attending the commemoration .

The timing of the invitation to the U.S. veterans is likely intentional , but for Hudner , the focus is bringing closure to his Korean War experiences and to Brown 's family . Brown 's widow and daughter , who was just a toddler when he died , are hopeful he will be found and eventually brought back home .

Almost 8,000 American military personnel are still missing in action in the conflict .

` Living history ' - North Korean border town opens to Western tourists

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Former pilot , now 88 , visiting North Korea

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Thomas Hudner plans to see Korean War crash site

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He tried to save Jesse Brown

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Brown was first African-American pilot in U.S. Navy